Clemson Football: Tigers’ offense tactically superior in 2019

When you’re talking about pure X’s and O’s, the Clemson football offense is something to behold. The Tigers are tactically superior to their competition.

Games aren’t played on paper, and we all know that.

However, if you’re just arranging the tea leaves, there’s a reason Clemson football is getting a lot of hype on the offensive side of the ball coming into 2019. Honestly, the national media still may be underselling how dominant the Tigers have an opportunity of becoming.

There’s not a better pure offense in the nation than what Clemson possesses coming into this season.

Oklahoma is going to be elite and Alabama has all the tools, but the Tigers are just loaded everywhere. Perhaps one of those programs have an advantage somewhere when comparing the offenses, but as far as the regular season is concerned, one thing is for certain: Clemson football is tactically superior to its opponents.

Let’s start in the trenches and work our way around.

The Tigers lost LT Mitch Hyatt and C Justin Falcinelli off of last year’s offensive line, but there’s reason to believe that the group will actually be more talented in 2019. Filling in for Hyatt is Jackson Carman- the nation’s No. 1 OT in the 2018 recruiting class- and Sean Pollard, who has plenty of experience starting at guard, is playing center. When you add in All-American John Simpson and All-ACC caliber players in Gage Cervenka and Tremayne Anchrum, it’s clear that the offensive line is loaded with plenty of depth behind it.

The backfield for Clemson is one of the best in the nation. The Tigers return the country’s best quarterback in Trevor Lawrence, as well as the nation’s best running back in Travis Etienne. Lyn-J Dixon, a talented sophomore rusher, will be the primary backup behind Etienne and he is capable of making a splash this season, as well.

At wide receiver, the Tigers have the best 1-2 punch in the nation with Tee Higgins and Justyn Ross on the outside. There are also talented veterans Diondre Overton, Cornell Powell and TJ Chase, as well as Derion Kendrick- an explosive play-maker- and a pair of 5-star freshmen in Frank Ladson and Joseph Ngata. Don’t forget about Amari Rodgers, who is working to be back before the end of the season after suffering a torn ACL in the spring.

No matter how you look at it, opposing defenses are going to suffer. If you stack the box and try to take away the run, Trevor Lawrence and those talented wide receivers are going to kill you in the passing game. If you put an extra defensive back on the field, Travis Etienne will gash you at 8-9 yards per clip.

Opposing defensive coordinators are going to have nightmares planning for this scheme and there’s no reason to believe they’ll be able to slow Clemson down this season. The Tigers are just tactically superior.